Westwood poised to team with McIlroy

By

NEWPORT, Wales – Lee Westwood says he’s ready to play five Ryder Cup matches if needed in his comeback from a torn calf muscle, but he said he wouldn’t be disappointed if he gets one session off.

“It’s a very difficult golf course to come back to,” Westwood said Thursday of The Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor. “It’s very heavy under foot, very hilly with a lot of steep slopes. Ideally, I would have liked to have broke myself in gently. I know as much as you how I will react over the next couple days.”

That’s not to say Westwood isn’t confident on the rehabilitated right leg and ready for this return. It’s his first competitive golf since he withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone eight weeks ago. He isn’t sure if European captain Colin Montgomerie will use him all five matches, but Westwood’s accustomed to a workhorse role. In his six Ryder Cup appearances, Westwood’s played in the maximum five matches in all but one, the European loss at Valhalla two years ago.

“If he chooses to play me five, I hope I will be up for it,” Westwood said. “I’m not as young as I used to be, where I could play five. There’s a few more miles in my legs. Maybe the best way to get the most out of me is to play me in four.

“But as I said, if I didn’t think I could play five in a week, I wouldn’t be here.”

Westwood was scheduled to play with Rory McIlroy in foursomes in Thursday’s afternoon practice session. He’s expected to team with McIlroy for foursomes when the matches begin, though McIlroy will also see time with Graeme McDowell, a fellow countryman from Northern Ireland.

Tags:

Mell, a senior writer, is a 30-year veteran and covers the PGA and LPGA tours for Golf Channel.